Loviste Bay

After a 3 hour drive we have semi settled into our new home in Loviste, Croatia. Thank goodness there are no stairs here and we are right on the beach front - with about a 80m walk to the main beach. This time we have a pebble beach which Zara loves... she has to taste all the small pebbles, just to keep us on our toes. The sea is a lot warmer here and as you can see Zara is really loving life. Our little water baby can spend ages in the sea at a time.

The Great Trek

Sadly today we left Kolcep Island to head up north to the tip of the Peninsula, Loviste Bay. While planning the trip, we had much debate about what car to hire for the second part of the holiday. Bearing in mind there are 7 people plus luggage....

So we finally settled on the Toyota Verso with roof racks - I think the pictures tell you the creative packing of the car to get all soles, strollers and suitcases safely across Croatia. The roads are very narrow and windy and poor Emma felt terrible with motion sickness. Zara was completely zonked from the heat and being tired having missed both her normal naps - note how she managed to keep the dummy close by though ;~)

(Well done Brett on all the driving, Chris and I were far too chicken to tackle "wrong side" driving on those narrow, twisty, turny roads with trucks flying by!)

The other Kolocep Beach

Today is Brett's birthday - he is one of the lucky few who seem to always be on holiday on their birthday - so we decided to go to the other beach on the island. It is about a half hour walk from our apartment, with some steep hills in both directions. Having been there once before, we decided to take the "short" cut over the hill which meant a bit of bundu bashing. The main incentive to keep going in the Mediterranean temps was the cool sea on the other side and the good food we were going to have at the little restaurant. Chris, Brett and Emma went to jump off the wall across from where we were sitting. Emma was so excited at being able to do the jump she ran all the way back to us to ask us to watch her jump into the sea. Once again we were reminded of the devastation caused during the war... with a deserted hotel right on this little beach with bullet holes on the facade.

Loving the beach

The main beach we have been coming to on Kolocep Island (pronounced-Kolochep) is a sandy beach which is the exception to the rule in Croatia. Most beaches are pebbles or rocky - like the picture from the day we arrived..... The island is a small - car free island, and so the only mode of transport is walking. Luckily the beach is a short walk from the apartment - once you have negotiated the 157 stairs - and the kids have been having a ball here. As you can see from the photos, the sea is calm and as flat as a dam. The water is a little colder than expected especially after the "cold" front & rains. Emma & Leo have been playing very nicely with Zara, giving us a nice break. Zara loves the beach so much she has literally devoured it.... I decided there's no point in stopping her & causing a scene which will no doubt then cause her to want to do it more , so as predicted, soon enough, the novelty wore off and she stopped eating the sand.

Dubrovnik - Old town

Today we took a trip into Dubrovnik. The weather has been unseasonably chilly and overcast so we thought that it would be a good time to see the ancient city. Having caught the ferry back to the main land, we found that the buses we overflowing with tourists so we decided to walk into the city - WOW - It is absolutely breathtaking - despite being very busy with tourists = quite hard to photograph the architecture etc .... but well worth battling the crowds to wonder through the ancient streets etc.

Feeling the water...

After settling in a bit, we decided to test the water. A bit chilly for the Adriatic/Mediterranean and Zara was not too wild about it to start with - I think generally just a bit disrupted from all the traveling.

Arriving in Croatia...

After quite a lot of travelling - "taxi" transfer from Arlington Rd to Gatwick Airport, flight to Dubrovnik, transfer to port, ferry to Kolocep, walk (with all our luggage) to apartments....we have finally arrived and thrilled with our accomodation! (never mind the 157 steps we need to contend with to get to and from the beach)

Zara was completly zonked ..... one would have thought she did all the carrying etc....

OFF OFF & AWAY!!

....... with my very own pink suitcase, ladybird sunglasses and a cozi or 2, I am off to Croatia........

see you in August

xxxxxxxxxx

Trip to the Zoo

Our first visit to the zoo has been months in the planning, and finally having settled on a day and time to suit most, as luck would have it, today the weather turned cold, but never the less we all bundled ourselves up and off we went. The group of Mom's we met up with, I met in preggy yoga so our babies are all various ages. Some of us also did some Mom's and babies yoga for a while so the littlies have also met a couple of times ;~) We all had a lovely time on our blankets - as you can see Zara and Jazmine even had a little "rough 'n tumble". After a good chat and laugh, we had a little walk around. I think Zara took note of the ellies (who could miss them) but pretty much everything else went by in a blur.....